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Vice President Mike Pence stands during the national anthem before an NFL game between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 8. Shortly thereafter, Pence left the game, because players kneeled during the anthem. | Michael Conroy/AP Photo

Pence leaves NFL game after players kneel during anthem

Vice President Mike Pence left an Indianapolis Colts game on Sunday shortly after several players on the opposing San Francisco 49ers kneeled in protest during the national anthem.

"I left today's Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem," Pence wrote on Twitter on his official @VP account, hours after tweeting that he was looking forward to taking in a game with his wife, Karen Pence.

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President Donald Trump later added that he personally asked the vice president and his wife to leave the game. "I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. I am proud of him and @SecondLady Karen," Trump wrote on Twitter.

The timing of Pence's departure from Lucas Oil Stadium on his way to the West Coast and Trump's follow-up tweet led some to suggest that the vice president's departure was a preplanned stunt.

NBC News' Vaughn Hillyard tweeted that reporters traveling with the vice president were not even brought into the stadium with him. "As media pool has been made aware, a staffer told pool that VPOTUS may depart the game early. Did not indicate how early," Hillyard tweeted.

It could also not have come as a surprise that a number of players chose to kneel. Some NFL players have continued to kneel during the national anthem — or make other displays of protest, such as raising their fists — since Trump said such actions were disrespectful to the flag. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners," Trump said last month, "when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”

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After the game, 49ers safety Eric Reid took issue with Pence's motives for leaving, pondering whether the whole thing was just "a PR stunt."

"He knew our team has had the most players protest. He knew that we were probably going to do it again," Reid said, according to a video from Jennifer Lee Chan, a reporter for NinersNation.com. "This is what systemic oppression looks like. A man with power comes to the game, tweets a couple of things out and leaves the game with an attempt to thwart our efforts."

Reid also questioned the last time the vice president attended an NFL game and referenced the fact that the photo Pence tweeted of him and his wife in Colts gear appears to be from three years ago.

According to an Indianapolis Star reporter, Colts players stood arm-in-arm during the playing of the anthem in Indianapolis while some 49ers players kneeled. (Sports Illustrated reported that 23 kneeled.) The 49ers are the former team of quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who in 2016 started the trend of kneeling during the anthem as a way to bring attention to police mistreatment of African-Americans. Still a controversial figure, Kaepernick remains unsigned.

Trump's comments, beginning with a rally in Alabama and continuing with a series of tweets Sept. 23, caused a rash of protests the following Sunday. A few teams elected to stay in their locker rooms Sept. 24, avoiding the anthem entirely.

Pence added in a statement later Sunday that he doesn't think it's "too much to ask NFL players to respect the Flag and our National Anthem."

"I stand with President Trump, I stand with our soldiers, and I will always stand for our Flag and our National Anthem," he said.

The vice president, who served as governor of Indiana and was born and raised in the state, said he attended the game in part to cheer on legendary former Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who was being honored by the team Sunday. Pence, however, was long gone by the time Manning was inducted into the team's ring of honor at halftime. And he missed the Colts prevailing, 26-23, in overtime on a 51-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal.

"Pence trumped a day that belonged to the greatest football hero the state of Indiana has ever seen, and he did it for political purposes," football columnist Peter King wrote. "He stole Manning's last great day as a Colt. Mike Pence will have to live with himself for that."